Activists cite plan in Syrian massacre

by Bassem Mroue - Dec. 22, 2011 12:24 AMAssociated Press

BEIRUT, Lebanon - As government troops advanced on a village in northwestern Syria, activists say, the terrified residents fled into a valley for fear of being arrested or worse. What happened next, one of the activists said, was "an organized massacre."

The troops surrounded the valley and unleashed a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire in an hours-long assault, according to two human-rights groups and a witness, killing more than 100 people and leaving no survivors in one of the bloodiest days of a crackdown by President Bashar Assad against a nine-month popular uprising.

The White House said it was "deeply disturbed" by Tuesday's attack, France called it a "murderous spiral," and the Arab League reminded the Assad regime of its responsibilities to protect its civilians.

The United Nations says more than 5,000 died since March as Syria has sought to put down the uprising -- part of the "Arab Spring" of protests that toppled long-serving unpopular leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

Members of Syria's opposition said the bloodshed outside the village of Kfar Owaid, about 30 miles from the northern border with Turkey in Idlib province, was evidence of the authoritarian leader's intent to intensify the crackdown on the uprising before Arab League observers arrive in the country today. The death toll from two days of violence this week topped 200, including up to 70 army defectors killed near the city of Idlib, the activists said.

"It was an organized massacre," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based activist group. "The troops surrounded people, then killed them."

One Kfar Owaid villager who is an anti-government activist told the Associated Press by telephone that scores of residents and activists had fled to the nearby Budnaya Valley ahead of the advancing troops.